First Ultra Sound Tomorrow HELP

Ok ladies- I have my first ultrasound tomorrow afternoon. It is not a vaginal ultrasound and i have been told i must drink 32 ounces of water an hour prior to the appointment and just wait.....I'm thinking the task is impossible- I mean seriously, you're asking a pregnant woman who already has to urinate twice an hour to drink that much wanter and wait!!! Maybe I'm worried for nothing- suggestions?

Comments (10)

They only need your bladder full for the first part which means they are doing abdominal. Then they will tell you to empty your bladder for the transvaginal. I doubt they will expect to see much on the abdominal, so just have a fullish bladder, I wouldn't worry about the ounces.

I have my first US tomorrow as well so excited to hear the heartbeat of my sticky jelly belly!!! But i was never told to drink that much water, although it's true you have to be ready to pee :/ on every appointment!!! Wish you luck hope it goes well for both of us.

Who is taking their DH (dear husband) with to the first appointment? He wants to be there for all of the memorable things (i.e. first heartbeat), but not so much the awkward stuff (save that for birth!). Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts!

I'm not taking my hubby to my first appt tomorrow, which will be with the nurse for bloodwork only and discussion of family history, etc. He will be coming to my first appt. with the midwife next Monday though . I think they said we try to do a US on that appt, so I definitely want him there. I also will be getting the pelvic exam on that appt, so maybe he can stay in the waiting room for that. LOL

I want my DH (dear husband) there for the ultrasound. He didn't seem interested too much as they don't really look like anything so early. He will like the 20 week anatomy scan better!
Be sure check out the link in my siggy, about ultrasound safety.
The tech really should not be putting Doppler on you little babies to hear the heartbeats just yet! It is too powerful for them. Instead there is a thing called m-mode, and you can "watch" the heart beats. Ask your tech for that instead. Just a heads up!
Also they should not put color anywhere on the baby either. Also uses Doppler and too powerful for them!

I'm sure my tech is going to roll his eyes at my request, but I am not taking any chances with my bean!

My doctor didn't have my drink anything. They couldn't see much with the abdominal ultrasound, so they did a transvaginal -- then we saw a lot. The transvaginal ultrasound makes you feel like you have to pee, so they sent me to the bathroom first to empty my bladder.

I wouldn't be able to drink that much water and not go to the bathroom. I can hardly drink a cup of water without peeing twenty minutes later.

My husband's going to all of my appointments. I told him they might not do an ultrasound at the first appointment, but he insisted anyway. He normally wouldn't miss work for anything, but as soon as I mentioned my first appointment, he wanted to go. He stayed in the room while they did my pap, he just stood in the corner so he didn't see anything. It was nice to have him there, he makes jokes when he's uncomfortable and he's always uncomfortable around doctors. He's going to my next one and there isn't going to be an ultrasound or anything exciting like that.

When you drink all that water, it takes a while to go through your system to actually become urine...

If you're peeing often, you probably aren't peeing much (does that make sense?)

They're probably having you drink that much water to make sure you're "overhydrated" so you won't have any trouble keeping a full bladder. I'm pretty sure if you pee once or twice in the hour before that appointment, you won't have any trouble having a full bladder for the abdominal us...

@ Sivad_T: I've asked my DH (dear husband) to come along ;0) I explained to him what was probably going to happen & that it's going to be a pretty long visit... he's very excited to see the us and hear our little one's heart beat! Lucky for him, our hospital/midwife is literally next door to where we live so if it gets to be too much for him, he can just walk home! LOL My very first prenatal appointment is March 7 ;0)

The reason for the full bladder on abdominal scans is that it is easier to get a better picture if the waves are going through liquid rather than just tissue. Just an FYI (for your information) tidbit.

I had two transvaginal U/S (ultrasound) and they weren't too awful. The first one I had to have a full bladder for and I agree, it was difficult but not as awful as I made it out to be in my head :) The 2nd one was one where they had my empty my bladder first and then it was a piece of cake. I brought my DH (dear husband) to the 2nd one and we were able to hear the heartbeat and see the little peanut!

I've had a trasvaginal US before due to ovarian cysts, I couldn't get all 32 oz down but I drank as much as I could and they saw everything fine. I'm having my first US for my pregnancy tomorrow. I'll be doing the water thing again, so we'll see how this one goes with having to pee all the time, but I'm sure it will be fine.

It's not painful just slightly uncomfortable. Good luck to everyone :)

This Internet site provides information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your own health or the health of your child, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. Please review the Terms of Use before using this site. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by the Terms of Use.

This site is published by BabyCenter, L.L.C., which is responsible for its contents as further described and qualified in the Terms of Use.

You are passing a message to a BabyCenter staff member.
For the fastest help on community guidelines violations, please click 'Report this' on the item you wish the staff to review.
For general help please read our Help section or contact us.